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Seal McDougle Cemetery

Seal McDougle was born in North Carolina in 1844 and was married to Emily, who was born in Virginia in 1841. A 1900 census indicates Seal and Emily had no dependent children, but employed a 16-year-old white female servant named Farmer Dewherry. Seal, who was a former slave, bought 720 acres of land in the Westfield area (as originally named) in 1880. In 1883 he sold four acres to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Spring Circuit for a church and cemetery. (Designated as a historic Texas Cemetery in 2005.)

Location

23110 ½ Cypresswood Dr.
Spring, TX 77373

GPS: Latitude: 30° 03.036'
Longitude: 95° 21.028'

Key Map: 334 A

Spring (Town of)

Initially a farming community supported by sugar cane and cotton crops, Spring was platted by the Houston & Great Northern Railroad in 1873. That same year, Callahan Pickette became the town's first postmaster. Spring served as the commercial center for the surrounding area during the early 1900s and a focal point for German settlers including Carl Wunsche, who was instrumental in the town's development. A new rail line reached Spring in the early 20th century, and the addition of a roundhouse and railway shops created an import rail center for the growing community. Developer R. l. Robinson subdivided land south of the original town and the commercial area shifted to accommodate the rail junction. Railroads facilitated the development of the lumber industry, which boasted a number of mills, both large and small, in the boom era of lumber production. With the boom came the need for new businesses including hotels, saloons, an opera house, gambling houses, a hospital, and a bank. In 1907, residents established the Spring Independent School District. The loss of the roundhouse and the onset of Prohibition led to a decline in population. Ultimately, the saloons, hotels, and other rail-supported businesses closed in the 1920s. The dwindling community persisted, however, creating a volunteer fire department in the 1950s and sustaining the Spring ISD, which integrated in the mid-1960s. As the population began to grow again in the early 1970s, new businesses opened including many specialty shops. Spring continues to attract new residents and businesses, but retains its unique identity as a town with a strong German heritage and its link to early history. (Designated as a Texas Historical landmark in 2003.)

Location

403 Main St.
Spring, TX 77373

Latitude: 30° 04.733'
Longitude: 95° 25.327'

Key Map: 292 Q

Spring Cemetery

After Spring was established on the International and Great Northern line in 1873, it became an important railroad center. The Sellers family, early area landowners, donated a portion of their property for a community church and cemetery. The oldest legible tombstone is that of a child, Franklin Leroy Lovins, who died in 1910. Military veterans including George C. Baker, who served in the Civil War, are also interred here. Gravestones mark nearly 50 burial sites, but many other burials are unmarked. The cemetery stands as a reminder of Spring's heritage as a railroad town. (Designated as a Texas Historical landmark in 2001.)

Location

26206 Aldine-Westfield
Spring, TX 77373

Latitude: 30° 04.724'
Longitude: 95° 24.867'

Key Map: 292 R

Tip: Behind Lexington Woods Church

Strack Cemetery

Brothers Herman and Heinrich Strack came to Texas from Feudingen, Germany in 1848 with their families. By the mid-1850s, they were joined by their brothers Johann Jost, Friedrich, and Jakob along with their respective families. In 1863, Herman bought land that included a pre-existing burial ground later owned by Friedrich and Jakob. The burial ground became known as the Strack Cemetery. Graves of military veterans buried in Strack Cemetery date to the Civil War. Today, Strack family descendants manage the site through an association. (Designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2004.)

Photos provided by the Harris County Historical Commission.

Location

17,000 Kuykendahl Rd. at Cypress Villas Dr.
Spring, TX 77388

Latitude: 30° 01.992'
Longitude: 95° 28.729''

Key Map: 331 F

Tip: Private cemetery with locked gate; 200 yards east of Kuykendahl, north of Cypress Creek and the Cypresswood Subdivision; across from Strack Intermediate School

Wunsche Brothers Saloon & Hotel

The Wunsches, one of Spring's earliest families who immigrated from Germany in 1846, constructed this building in 1902. The Wunsche Bros. Saloon and Hotel, later known as the Spring Cafe, was built to accommodate railroad workers and has served as a community gathering place throughout the town’s history. The structure, which exhibits typical turn-of-the-century commercial detailing, is Spring's oldest existing commercial building on its original site. (Recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1984.)